The Crested Chameleon
by ProxyoftheMuse
Summary: There is a new jewel in town, and Manny, Frida, and Grandpapi are determined to get their hands on it. But when the heist to retrieve it goes wrong, they must race time in order to right their wrongs. But it will not be easy as Manny and Frida learn that there is more seriousness to the situation than they thought when old wounds are reopened and secrets are revealed.
1. Prologue

**Hey y'all, so those of you who have been following me have noticed that I have not yet uploaded chapter 3 of El Tigre's** ** _Fractured Fairy Tales._** **I have just been so busy with holidays, classes, etc. But I promise you guys I will be uploading it soon! And I'm going to be working on both fan fictions at once. While** ** _Fractured Fairy Tales_** **is just gonna be a few chapters,** ** _The Crested Chameleon will be a long-term project_** **with one solid storyline and multiple chapters of it. The title is also still a working title, I will change that eventually.**

 **This will not only be my first Book of Life fan fiction but my first crossover as well. I absolutely adore The Book of Life. It first aired on HBO in the summer, I watched it, and I fell in love with it. But months before watching it, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the same creative minds behind that movie are also the same creative minds behind El Tigre, one of my favorite cartoons growing up which I still remember to this day. I am honestly surprised to find that crossovers between the two are severely lacking, so I will make my own contribution. If you guys like it, that's awesome. If not, well I'm not forcing you to read it.**

 **This is based on the tidbits of info that Jorge gave out on his Twitter, both involving The Book of Life and El Tigre. I got especially invested in the story between Sartana's parentage and the history between her and Puma.**

 **And just a disclaimer: I do not own The Book of Life or El Tigre, all credit belongs to the awesome Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equiha. Except for The Crested Chameleon and it's back story. Enjoy!**

It was with great pride that Miracle City had made their newest discovery. The archeologists led an epic expedition in the outskirts within the outskirts of the city where a jungle of ruins laid. It was a long and excruciating journey and for a minute it seemed useless, but it all was worth it when they uncovered the tiny, gold, jewel-encrusted, reptilian-like statue which they dubbed the Crested Chameleon. The archeologists suspected that it has remained under that rubble for centuries, so they were surprised to find that the statue remained untarnished.

Municipal President Rodriquez was pleased to announce _his_ discovery of the Crested Chameleon to the citizens as well as the incoming exhibit of the artifact in the museum for the next month.

Right before the discovery of the Crested Chameleon, the museum also hired two new security guards who right away got settled within the job. While the arrival of the Chameleon was treated as any other arrival of a new exhibit, these two were being fiercely protective of the statue. The female guard gave the curator specific orders such as, put it in a separate room from the other exhibits, keep it a specific distance away from the tourists, have no one step over the white line that was painted five feet away from the case holding the statue, and above all, keep it under heavy security. In a glass case, with lasers. And security cameras. And have it guarded exclusively by them, day and night. Her male colleague did not do as much talking as she did, but he made sure of it that the woman's demands were met, usually via death glares. As unusual as the curator found those requests to be, he had to admit that woman was very persuasive. Though that still did not stop him from questioning their reasoning behind hanging up a giant sign above the glass case telling others not to touch if.

"With all due respect _senior,_ " the woman told the curator, "Nobody knows about things like this more than us, and we ask you to trust us with it."

On the day of the unveiling of the Chameleon, nearly all of Miracle City crowded the special room in which it was held. While the people admired the statue, the security guards did all in their power to make sure that the regulations they have set were being followed, keeping everybody in line and constantly checking up on the artifact. Night fell quickly that day. Soon enough, all of the people at the museum had gone home, leaving the two guards in the closed, empty museum.

"It really shouldn't surprise me to see just how the human race is regressing, and yet it still does." the man scoffed in disgust.

"Don't be so hard on them." his companion reprimanded him with a disapproving look.

"Well, I find that difficult to do when they set themselves up for it. They should have just left the statue when they saw it."

"And how are they supposed to know the consequences that it might bring?"

"Well," the man fumbled, scratching his head in confusion. The woman had him beat. "There's really no way for them to know that…" admitted the man. "Still, their greed will drive them to their demise. Especially in this crime-filled cesspool. You just watch, criminals will be trying to snatch it on a daily basis. Especially-"

"This crime-filled cesspool will only have the chameleon for a month before it is moved to another museum. In the meantime, it is our responsibility to keep it from falling into the wrong hands." the woman stroked the man's face and facial hair in reassurance. It will all be over before we know it. You'll see."

 **Yeah, you guys have probably already figured out who our security guards are. And if you want more of them, you be sure to stay caught up with the story! Favorite, follow, review, and enjoy! Chapter 1 will be up soon enough! ;)**


	2. Field Trip

**Hello readers, and welcome to the first chapter of "The Crested Chameleon" (still got to think of a better name) Ahem, anyway, I actually got started on this around the same time I worked on the prologue. I'm terribly sorry that it took me so long to update. From school to my own personal life, I just couldn't place all of my focus to fan fictions. Thankfully school is over for me and I have a lot of time on my hands, so I will try to update about 2 or 3 times a week, but it might change. In the meantime, enjoy the story!**

School trips. They meant two different things for two different parties. For the teachers, it was to get their students to learn things and possibly to get them more pumped about their studies, while getting a break from it themselves. For the students, they typically didn't care where they were going and what they were doing. It was just a plain old day off from boring lectures, and all they had to do was pretend to be interested by an exhibit that seemed educational enough. Manny and Frida however, just used it as an excuse to tempt fate with their acts of mischief and see exactly what they could get away with. But much to Frida's surprise, her best friend didn't seem to be feeling it. Manny was completely glum since he came to the school early this morning, constantly looking down, and limiting his speech to just the appropriate amount of words needed to carry on small talk. This continued throughout the bus ride until finally, Frida couldn't take the silence.

"Okay, dude, this whole 'zoning out everyone including my best friend' thing is really starting to freak me out. What's wrong?"

Manny sighed. "It's Grandpapi. He's mad at me."

"How did that happen?"

"It's kind of my fault. Last night, we were gonna rob the glass factory together…"

And so Manny retold his tale. Both him and Grandpapi have been looking forward to stealing some fancy glasses. They had already gathered a decent amount of the trinkets, but karma especially had it out for Manny for sneaking out on a school night. As he was running out with his selected treasures, he tripped over a pole laying on the floor. Unfortunately, the little incident occurred just less than a foot away from the alarm, and Manny's unsheathed claws triggered it, locking them in the factory and alerting both the police and White Pantera. Although the latter was disappointed in both of them, especially Manny, he still assured the police officers that he will handle them. Despite the fact that Puma practically got off scot-free, due to White Pantera seeing that there really was no point in punishing his father, the old man was too angry to take pity on his grandson, who got his video games taken away and had to clean Senior Chapi's cage for the next two weeks.

"And he hasn't even talked to me since." Manny concluded his tale, crossing his arms glumly.

"Harsh…"

"I can't figure out how to make up to him."

"You'll think of something." Frida assured her friend. "For now, let's just waste some valuable learning time."

For the entirety of the trip, Manny and Frida engaged in their planned antics, from starting a food in the museum cafeteria and managing to avoid suspicion to just laughing at funny or ugly-looking exhibits. Much to Frida's relief, Manny was gradually cheering up. As the end of the field trip was coming, the two amigos caught a glimpse of an open door, leading to a room that Manny became genuinely interested in it.

"Frida, check this out!" Manny stopped his friend from going any further by grabbing her wrist. She turned her head in the direction that Manny was pointing in. Apparently it was the new exhibit, but what could it be? Peering through the open door, the two teens saw a glass case standing in the middle of the otherwise empty room, holding a small, glittering object, surrounded by a big square of white tape, about five feet away from the case. Above it hovered a giant sign, about the size of Rodolfo's portrait of Maria in his bedroom, hanging from the ceiling with letters big enough to make out from the distance.

"Warning:" read Manny. "If any of you worms value your pathetic lives, you will never, _ever_ make any physical contact with the Chameleon. Otherwise, you have been cursed for the rest of your lives with a fate worse than death. Enjoy the exhibit! And proceed at your own risk." Upon finishing that passage, Manny and Frida stayed quiet, automatically becoming aware of the dark tone that the giant, specific sign was giving off. "Cool!". They walked into the room to get a better sight of this new exhibit. A golden chameleon encrusted with various jewels. The body was mostly covered in various shades of green and amber, with a hint of blue. The tail was marked with a pattern of brown and yellow, and two bright red rubies took the place of the chameleon's eyes. At first, Manny and Frida admired it from the distance, standing just a few inches away from the line that set the limit. But the duo wanted to get an even closer look at it, and just as they were about to step over the line…

"What do you two think you're doing?!" Manny and Frida yelped in fear and surprise to see a scrawny, middle-aged, mustached man approach them out of no-where. They simultaneously started blurting out incomprehensible excuses, but the security officer huffed out of frustration.

"I always knew you people aren't so bright when you're young, but I didn't think you would be too stupid to read obvious instructions!"

"Easy Guicho!" the voice rushed in before the man did something reckless. The three of them turned to see another security guard, this time, a woman, approaching them. She was much younger than the man, late 20's, early 30s tops with olive skin, round face, and pointed chin. She wore noticeable, yet modest makeup of mascara, blue eyeshadow, and red lipstick, and had black, waist-length hair tied back into a thick ponytail, and of course the standard security uniform. "You're scaring off potential tourists with that kind of behavior." she gently scolded her colleague, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"But, they-"

"Are still children." the lady cut him off with her own answer. "And their curiosity often overpowers their common sense, cut them some slack." she cocked her eyebrow at her colleague before turning to Manny and Frida with a softer and friendlier expression on her face.

"Come along you two." she gently pressed a hand on each of the teens' backs and slowly began to guide them away.

"What's his problem anyway?" asked Manny, unwilling to let go of that incident even after as they slowly began walking away from the exhibit.

"Oh don't you worry about him." the woman reassured the duo who still seemed shaken up by the yelling they received. "He just _very_ serious about his job, don't take it personally."

" _Right_ …" Frida skeptically replied. "Because a little reptile statue is that important?

"It's not just any reptile statue." the guard seriously stated. "This little artifact is a crucial and valuable piece of our ancestral history. It is said to belong to the ancient death god Ah Puch. It is also-"

"Cursed?" asked Manny, recalling what the sign said.

"What?" the security guard stopped dead in her tracks.

"Cursed." echoed Frida. "You know, like the giant, creepy sign said it is."

"Well…"

"What is the curse anyway?" asked Manny.

"That's not really my-"

"Will the person have bad luck wherever they go for the rest of their life?"

"Uhm…"

"Will they be haunted?" Frida topped Manny's question with her own.

"Would it _kill_ them?" Manny's inquiry was innocent, but the way he worded it came off as unintentional, disturbing perkiness. Seeing that his question went unanswered, Manny looked at the woman, who was nervously biting her lips and unconsciously fidgeting with her hands while getting a blank look on her face.

"Uh, lady, you okay?" asked Frida, trying to get her attention, about to touch her arm in concern.

"This exhibit is now closed for the day, no more questions!" the woman suddenly blurted out snapping from her trance. She hurriedly pushing Manny and Frida out through the door.

"But we just-"

"I'm glad you children enjoyed yourselves," the security guard regained her collected and professional manner. "Now go on, you don't want to miss your bus. Stay out of trouble and enjoy the weekend!" the woman bid the duo farewell, hanging a "closed" sign on the door and slamming it in their confused and offended faces. She locked the door just as soon as she shut it, and leaned on it, breathing out a heavy sigh of relief. "That was too close," she said to the man who was guarding the statue with her.

"Time will pass _querida,"_ he spoke softly to her, taking her hand and stroking it soothingly. "You said it yourself." he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I hope."

…

"Can you believe those two?" Manny raised his arms in exasperation as they walked home from school. This was unfair. The one artifact in the museum that they actually showed genuine interest in was restricted from them for no apparent reason. At least Manny and Frida were able to get a pamphlet on the exhibit from the information desk, but that still did not ease their sour mood at their banishment.

"Yeah, since when does security at the museum actually take their job seriously?" pouted Frida.

"We didn't have any diabolical motives towards that statue and they kicked us out like we were going to steal the thing in broad daylight! What could possibly be so special about that stupid chameleon anyway?"

Frida's face brightened up upon those last words, a scheming grin beginning to break out. "Dude, think about it! Grandpapi has been feeling down, mysterious, awesome-looking thing arrives in the museum, multiple restrictions are placed, including protective security guards. You heard that lady, it's _very_ valuable…"

"That's it!" Manny finally caught on to what his friend was saying. "Grandpapi will definitely want to get his hands on this! I can make it up to him if we steal it together! Frida, you're a genius!"

The two amigos high-fived and ran to the Rivera house to share the news with the super villain. While the two paranoid guards hinted at how tight security was, Manny was positive that with his Grandpapi's scheming, there was nothing that they couldn't get around.

 **Yeah, I decided to use the same name of Xibalba's security guard persona from "The Book of Life". Chapter 2 is already in process, I'm hoping to post it some time this weekend. Read, like, follow, and I'll see you guys soon ;)**


	3. If You Want Something

**No author's notes today… Just enjoy! ;)**

Puma Loco was sitting on the couch in the living room, going through some constellation prizes that he had stolen to make up for losing the loot thanks to Manny's clumsiness earlier today. As luck might have it for him, Rodolpho ended up working late tonight, giving the super villain all the rights to flaunt his loot without being forced to take it all back.

"Hi, Grandpapi!" Manny greeted his grandfather while walking in through the door with his best friend.

"Manny, Frida." Grandpapi coldly acknowledged the duo, not taking his eyes off a jewel. Manny gulped at the slight hostility his grandfather had in his voice, but was nudged encouragingly in the arm by Frida. "Listen, I feel bad about what happened last night, so, we got you a little something!"

"Look what we found at the museum!" Frida pulled out the pamphlet they got and handed it to the old man.

"What is-!" before Grandpapi could grumble out the question, his eyes widened in horror at the sight of the picture, and let out a terrifying yelp.

"Cool, huh?" said Manny excitingly, mistaking his grandfather's fear with excitement. "I was thinking we can rob it tonight!"

"No." the old man simply stated.

"This is gonna be so awesome! Dad's working late, so this is the perfect opportunity."

"Manny-"

"If we get our equipment ready now, we can-"

"Manny, I said no!"

Manny ceased his chattering. "No?" he repeated as if the word was completely foreign to him. "Aw come on, I know you're still mad at me, but I was really hoping that-"

" _Nieto_ ," Grandpapi chimed in, putting his hand on Manny's shoulder. "Chu knows that I never resist a good crime spree, especially, not w'chu, but dat Chameleon, just forget about it."

"Why?" questioned Manny. His grandfather was acting just as suspicious as the guards at the museum!

"I just don't feel like robbing tonight!" exclaimed Grandpapi.

"I'm not buying it!"

"Is that so bad?"

"The 'world's most macho super-villain' isn't up for the hottest heist this week? Why don't you wanna do this?"

"I can't tell you, is none of your business!"

"Why not, what are you hiding?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why are you being such a pansy about it?!"

Grandpapi's face went red at Manny's insult, complete with clenching fists and steam blowing out of his nose. Manny and Frida gasped at the sight, bracing themselves for what was to come. "No more questions!" the old man's voice bellowed, shaking the entire house and sending Manny and Frida falling on the floor from the trembling. Unable to take any further interrogation, Grandpapi stormed into his bedroom, peering out at Manny and Frida through the crack of his door. "Chu two better stay away from that thing _,_ if you know what's good for you," he spoke ominously before shutting the door, letting Manny and Frida take in the feeling of _deja vu._

…

Manny never thought he would live to see the day his grandfather turned down a chance to plunder. At least not doing it jokingly before immediately agreeing. _Stay away if you know what's good for you."_ the warning played over and over again in Manny's head. His grandfather practically told him to be good.

"Unbelievable!" Manny paced around in his room, throwing his exasperated arms in the air. "I kind of get why those two weirdos were trying to keep us away from the chameleon, but _Grandpapi?!"_

"It's like we're in some bizarre parallel universe." Frida agreed with her friend about the oddness of the situation, but deep down, something was bugging her to actually heed the warning, and to encourage Manny to do the same. "So, what do we do now?" inquired the girl, secretly hoping that the heist was off.

"We go along with it." replied Manny, rubbing his hands schemingly, and sporting an evil grin.

"We're gonna what now?"

"Grandpapi's just being an old coot about the whole thing. He's probably faking disinterest and trying to scare us so that he can steal it without me, but I'm gonna beat him in his own game, and once we get it for him, he'll forget all about the 'me accidentally tipping off the police' and that spooky thing he told us."

"Are you sure?" asked Frida rather skeptically, twiddling her fingers. "I mean if _Puma Loco,_ one of the proudest super villains is turning it down, then maybe we should…"

"Don't tell me you're backing down too!"

"What, no!" exclaimed Frida, raising her hands defensively. "Pfft, no way, I'm all for it!" she pumped her fist in the air weakly.

"Then let's get busy."

…

It was 9:30 pm, one hour after closing time. Once again, Manny and Frida were once again going through their list of supplies needed to pull off their scheme.

"Chameleon decoy?" Manny read through the list.

"Check!" confirmed Frida, holding up the obvious cardboard duplicate, covered in glitter glue and plastic jewels.

"Laser spray?"

"Check!"

"Inconspicuous backpack?"

"Right here!"

"Great!" Manny saluted himself and Frida with a thumbs-up. "Well, the chameleon isn't gonna steal itself, let's go!"

The duo unanimously decided that if they would sneak out the window, they would have less of a chance getting caught by Grandpapi. They placed decoys on both Manny's bed and the spare mattress that Frida was sleeping on and covered them up with blankets before they climbed through the opening of the window onto the balcony. "You ready?" asked Manny.

Frida nodded her head as she fastened the pack on her back and her goggles on her eyes.

"Then let's go!" Manny to spun his buckle, transforming into El Tigre, with Frida climbing on his back. The hero jumped from the building, with his sidekick holding on tight, the two of them getting enjoyment out of the adrenaline that was pumping up within them from the fall. When they were halfway from the ground, El Tigre shot one of his claws out, grappling onto a neighboring building, swinging to their destination.


	4. The Heist

**And so the story truly begins…**

The full moon spotlighted over Manny and Frida as they slowly made their way onto the roof of the Miracle City Museum. For all of the security precautions that were supposedly taken for one teensy artifact, they seemed to overlook the skylight in the room that was housing it. When Manny and Frida reached the top, the two of them were able to get a good sight of the full room, and it's centerpiece.

"Check it out." Manny tapped a clawed finger, pointing to the artifact that they saw. The two teens pressed their faces against the windows.

"Wow, this is gonna be easy!" chirped Frida, with the desire to get the heist over with as soon as possible.

"It's too easy Frida, why do you think we brought the laser spray?

"Oh yeah."

Manny took his claw and scratched a perfect circle into the glass. He popped out the remains of the makeshift opening, held Frida close to him once more, and jumped through the hole. El Tigre shot his hand towards the direction of the ceiling and swung towards the giant sign, landing on top of it. Frida took the canister out of her backpack, and sprayed all over the room, revealing the bright red lasers, but it wasn't just a few of them crossing over each other Those lasers made up various intricate patterns, layered out carefully on one another.

"Whoa," commented Frida. "Those people are not playing around."

"This is way too complex for us!" lamented Manny. "We'll never get through- hey, I found the off switch!", his eyes shifted to a conveniently labeled control on the ceiling. He switched it to the left, shutting down all of the red beams surrounding their target.

Frida couldn't take it anymore, the anxiety was killing her. "Dude, I know this is kind of the point, but this is just feeling _very illegal_ right now!" Grandpapi's refusal at doing the plundering should have tipped-off Manny, but when his _best friend_ , the biggest lover of mischief and chaos in all of Miracle City was having doubts, perhaps backing down wasn't such a bad idea now?

"I know it is, and I'll definitely get grounded and arrested for it, but it will all be worth it to see Grandpapi happy! I will get the chameleon for him, this I swear!"

"But the curse-"

"Aw how bad can a little statue be?" shrugged Manny, he jumped from the ceiling onto the floor, and stared greedily at the chameleon. He took the opportunity to admire it in the case up close and was even more pleased with it than in the museum. The gold that it was made from was completely untarnished and still looked as if it had just been forged, and the jewels sparkled like a thousand tiny suns. Manny was impressed. He knew that Grandpapi would like it. He'd probably add it to the collection as his favorites. Once he fully examined it, Manny shook his head. He'll have plenty of him to look at it some more.

"Hey little guy," grinned Manny. "You're gonna be getting a nice new home soon."

…

"In other failed villainy news, the biggest villain in Miracle City Puma Loco was thwarted in his recent thievery attempts by none other than his very own grandson El Tigre." Puma was watching TV in his bedroom, sitting on his bed with Little Mule and Senior Chappi napping by his side. He growled at the condescending way that the anchor on the news reported the story.

"Ai, the humiliation!" Puma screamed at the thought of all the villains in Miracle City watching, startling the pets into waking. "I work my way to the top of villainy, following the examples of my ancestors, and we never gave ourselves away at this point in our legacies!" Puma grudgingly watched the video clip of White Pantera escorting him and El Tigre out of the glass factory played, the trio being surrounded by laughing civilians and even some of the escaped criminals. Just as Puma was about to change the channel, he caught sight of Manny on the screen, who was walking out next to White Pantera. The boy looked down sadly. His arms dangled to the ground from his slumped shoulders, and his ears, tail, and the white tufts of fur on his mask drooped as well. Puma's heart was sinking . He was so angered by his failure that he didn't even consider Manny's feelings.

"I no mean to make Manny feel worthless," Grandpapi confessed to Little Mule, ashamed of the way he was acting towards his grandson. "I was a bit too tough on him, he still learning after all." Grandpapi couldn't stand watching that news broadcast anymore, it just racked up more guilt within him. He picked up the remote to change the channel, where a wrestling match was being announced. Perfecto! He got off his bed and made his way towards Manny's bedroom.

"Manny!" Grandpapi knocked on the door. "Wrestling's on _la televisión,_ you wanna watch with me?"

No answer.

"Come on Manny, chu no es giving me the silent treatment, huh?"

Still no answer.

Grandpapi sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for how I treated you, can't we just forget about it and watch some wrestling together?"

With the third round of silence in a row, Grandpapi opened the door himself, to find what appeared to be the teens in bed, with the lights still turned on oddly enough. "Manny?" Puma approached Manny's bed to check if he was sleeping, only to find a soccer ball and some extra pillows in his place. He walked up to the mattress on the floor that Frida was supposedly sleeping on. "Frida?" he uncovered the bulge, revealing a watermelon and two cans of tuna strapped onto it. They were nowhere in sight. Not that he was concerned, though. They must have snuck out to the arcade, or to tee-pee some buildings, they'll be back soon enough.

"Ah de childrens these days." chuckled Grandpapi fondly. When he made his way towards the exit, he heard a crackling sound beneath his foot. He caught a glimpse of a familiar looking image and picked up the paper he stepped on to get a closer look.

"Oh, no."gasped Grandpapi when he put together this pamphlet and Manny's earlier insistence and realized where the two youngsters have gone. "No, no, no, no, no!" thousands of negative fantasies and flashbacks were racing through his mind, each one worse than the last. What were those two thinking?! Of all the stunts they could have pulled tonight, they had to go with the one that he told them to stay clear from! Grandpapi's blood started increasingly boiling from a dangerous combination of anxiety and rage, making him holler from the top of his lungs. "When I get my hands on them, I gonna-!" he ripped the paper in half before stopping in realization. He couldn't afford to be angry right now, he'll have every opportunity to yell at Manny and Frida after he takes them home, but now there was not a moment to waste! He needed to get to the museum, fast. Without thinking twice, Grandpapi activated his mech suit and flew through the wall as fast as humanly possible, determined to get there before it was too late.

…

Frida was glancing down at Manny from the top of the sign, biting her nails on the hand that she wasn't using to grip the edge. The closer he approached the case, the more tense she was getting. Finally, she couldn't take it. She needed to get the confession off her chest "Okay, I'm caving in, we shouldn't be doing this!".

"What?!" Manny exclaimed. "This was your idea!"

"You know better than to listen to me!"

"Well, you know better than to expect me to _not_ listen to you! Why are you so worried anyway?"

" _Hello?!_ " Frida aggressively pointed to the sign.

"There's no curse! This is just a cheap tactic to scare off thieves!"

"And how do you know?"

"Can you just let me steal the thing?!"

"No! You don't know what consequences it's gonna bring!"

" _Consequences?_ Who are you and what have you done with Frida?!"

"Manny, you get away from that thing!"

"Or what?." Manny spat those two words at this best friend and went back to his robbery. Before he could even touch the glass case, his vision went red and something dropped down hard on him. Frida jumped from the sign and landed on Manny's back, covering his eyes with her goggles, and tripped him by yanking the straps. The two children continued their squabble on the ground. Frida had Manny pinned down, and the latter tried in vain to push the former off of him, but every time he did manage to succeed, Frida was not giving up, and kept jumping back on him. When shoving didn't work, Manny's hands were met with Frida slapping them away, causing the two of them to resort to simple slap and poke fights. Manny, however, realized that he could easily penetrate the glass and grab the statue. While distracting Frida with repeated pokes to her face, he shot his hand through the barrier, but not with intended results. Rather than getting the statue, Manny's hand ejected from both sides of the case, getting stuck in the place where it was supposed to shoot out, and that automatically set the alarm off. Manny hurriedly retracted his hand, knocking the case over in the process, completely shattering the glass and knocking out the chameleon.

"We gotta get outta here!" Manny screamed in panic over the blaring sound. Frida quickly got off of him, and was waiting for Manny to zip them out, but much to her ire, Manny was still going for the chameleon, and she got ready to slap his darn hand away from it. But Manny and Frida diverted their attention away from the chameleon when they heard the skylight shatter, and saw Grandpapi zooming in his mech suit, still managing to make a perfect landing in spite of his rush, and hurriedly deactivated his mech suit.

"Grandpapi!" Manny was relieved to see his grandfather make it on time to save them, but unfortunately, Grandpapi didn't share that relief. He harshly grabbed Manny by his neckerchief and yanked him in order to face him.

"Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O'Brian Equiha Rivera!" Grandpapi roared at his grandson, unintentionally spitting in his face. "I have one rule for you that I actually expect you to obey, and you break it! When I tell your father about this, you gonna-"

"What is going on here?!" Grandpapi stopped mid-lecture at the sound of the door slamming and a concerned, feminine voice. He and Manny turned to see a familiar duo. Those were the same security guards from the field trip. At the sight of the thieves, the couple's eyes darted from the damage that was done in the room to those responsible for it. They were understandably furious at the trio, but they specifically glared daggers at Grandpapi.

"You!" snarled the female officer, pointing an accusing finger towards Grandpapi's direction. Her eyes burned at the sight of the criminal before her.

"Calm down, calm down!" the old man picked up the artifact and showed that it was unharmed. "It's all just a great, big misunderstanding! We just gonna put it back, get out, and-" just as Grandpapi was about to finish his sentence, the chameleon suddenly disintegrated in his hand. "Okay, you can't do anything about that now, adios!" Grandpapi grabbed Manny and Frida by their arms and huddled them towards him, about to transform into his mech suit. If only the crumbling room didn't prevent him from doing that. Before he could even jump inside with the kids, a small chunk of the sitting hit him in the head and knocked him out.

"No!" cried out Manny. "Grandpapi!" he desperately shook the unconscious figure to no avail. "I'm sorry, I never meant for _this_ to happen!" the poor boy was on the verge of tears.

While Manny was attempting to awaken his grandfather, Frida was unsure of what else to do other than to sit on the sidelines helplessly, and for the first time ever, blame herself completely for everything. Yes, it was stupid for Manny to still go along with the robbery despite the red flags that were popping up, but if she hadn't suggested it in the first place, they wouldn't be in this mess right now. In the midst of her pity party, Frida noticed that the powdery remains of the chameleon were emitting a purple glow that was getting brighter by the minute, "Uh, Manny…" she whimpered, tugging her friend's sleeve with a shaking hand. When Manny turned to see the ash pile glowing, and slowly morphing into various odd shapes, until it turned into a giant, freakish, reptilian-like creature that resembled the little statue, still retaining the shimmering scales, only instead of the polished, flawless gold, it was an inky black, and it was about the size of one of the triceratops fossils in the dinosaur exhibit. The monster eyed it's glimmering red eyes at those who dare awake him and let out an ear-piercing screech.

"Manny, what do we do?!" screamed Frida, frantically shaking him.

"I don't know!" sobbed Manny.

The security guards were still on the other side of the room in the midst of the chaos, trying to dodge the collapsing facility. The man dutifully protected the woman from any dangers at all costs, pulling her out or blocking her from the direction of any falling debris, and continuously but unsuccessfully insisted that she retreat to a safer place. But when she saw the purple light beaming from the remains of the statue and heard the youngsters' cries, her instincts screamed at her to help them. She ran to the center of the room, rapidly dodging anything that might harm her. As soon as she reached the injured team, the big creature had it's claws raised, with intent to strike. Without even thinking, the woman jumped and threw herself onto the panicked youngsters and unconscious man. She kept urging for them to stick together as she shielded them from the danger. When the creature's claws were just an arm's length away to kill, a golden light emitted from the piled group, and they soon vanished. The chameleon stared at the empty spot where it's victims once stood, and turned to the older male officer, who without a word, disappeared as well.

 **Remember guys, feel free to leave some constructive criticism in the reviews! I really appreciate them!**


	5. Well, Had Crazier Days

**Hey-o! It's been a while since I last posted, sorry for the delay… Before we begin, I would like to thank some people:**

 **britbunny0: You've reviewed every single one of the chapters that I've posted, and I would like to thank you very much, you have no idea how much your words keep me motivated. :)**

 **The-Musical-CC: Once again, thank you for answering my question on Tumblr and for letting me use the ask as a reference for the story, it really helped me out for the dialogue here, and for future ones to come. ;)**

 **May 16 writer: You're just wonderful. I appreciate the fact that despite my late uploads, you still stick with me. Thank you so much for your kind words. Oh, and your suggestions to Fractured Fairy Tales, I promise that it will be updated soon!**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

The reptilian creature looked around its surroundings. Furious that its prey got away, it snarled and the remains of its prison and stomped it into more splinters.

"Stand down." a baritone boomed in the background. The chameleon turned to give a hiss at the insolent fool who had the nerve to order him around, but stopped in realization. Behind the chameleon monster stood a hooded silhouette that extended his hand. The creature approached the person before him and rubbed his snout against the bony palm sentimentally.

"Yes, it's been far too long, hasn't it?" the figure agreed as he scratched the chameleon's chin affectionately. "And wrongfully so." the monster lowered his head, allowing his master to stroke his head, catching a glimpse of something orange.

"What's this?" the figure knelt down to pick up the object, a marigold and held it in front of his eyes for examination. He need not rack his brain on figuring out who it belonged to.

"La Muerte." the figure determined. "Who would have known? And no doubt she had that backstabbing _lackey_ with her." he scoffed sarcastically. The monster hissed in accordance to the master's remark. "But what could have possibly provoked them from waking you up my fiend?" he pondered, stroking the petals of the flower.

Complying with the question, the chameleon lifted his head towards a blank wall and projected the events that it had just witnessed. The master carefully observed what had unfolded before his arrival. From the two rascally children to the old man suddenly bursting in, and finally, the arrival of his old "friends" who assisted in the mortals' escape from the scene.

"The little vermin." he growled through grinding his teeth. "Where do they get off with the thievery of our treasures? And where does the little _wench_ get off with-"

The chameleon hissed at his master, reminding him of the current situation.

"You're right." the master nodded. "My ramble won't fix anything, will it?" he cooed the last word, stroking his pet's head. "It's only a matter of time before our friends find the key to stopping us. Well, I assure you I won't let it happen again. We will dispose of La Muerte, and the mortals, and we will have our revenge!" the master cackled, before swishing his cape and vanishing with his animalistic companion.

…

A bright orb flashed in the grasslands of the land of the dead, scaring the few skeletal animals into hiding. The woman still kept her protective stance over the trio of intruders. Grandpapi was still out cold, and Manny and Frida were still whimpering and trembling beneath the guard. "It's alright _niños,_ we're safe now." she whispered to the kids and rubbed each of their backs soothingly. When their tension was slowly easing, the woman saw her partner flash in and ran into his arms.

"Are you alright, did it hurt you?" the man asked the woman, gently holding her face up to inspect for any possible injuries.

"I'm fine." she nodded, blushing slightly. "I would have healed fast anyway. What about you?"

"Peachy. Even if it got me, what more could he do to me?" the man teased, brushing a few strands of stray hair from his partner's eyes, making her giggle a bit.

Manny was the first to open his eyes, and breath a heavy sigh of relief. "That was close." he yelped in pain when Frida sacked him in the arm. "Yeah, no thanks to you." she said through gritted teeth.

"Right, sorry…" Manny glanced down guiltily at his feet, skimming the tip of his boot across the greenest grass he's ever seen, suspicion striking them at their sudden change of environment. "Where are we anyway?"

"I dunno, the park?"

"But how did we-"

"Who cares?" barked Frida impatiently. There was no doubt that word of the attempted robbery was spread, and that monster was probably already on the loose. All Frida wanted was to get away from the two people who could possibly reprimand them, and law low until the whole things blows over.

"What I miss?" relief washed over Manny when he saw that Grandpapi was slowly waking up. "Grandpapi!" he cried joyously. As the old man was still trying to fully grasp everything that happened, Manny hurriedly ran to him and embraced him tightly. "I'm sorry I called you a pansy!" the boy cried regretfully. "And for making you come down to save us only for you to get knocked out, and-"

"Manny, please!" Granpapi interrupted his grandson's speedy apology, putting an arm on his shoulder to steady himself "I'm still trying to regain consciousness!" Granpapi rubbed his head where it hurt and adjusted his glasses, dazedly taking in their surroundings.

"Have a nice nap?" a deep voice sounded from behind Granpapi. He cautiously turned his head to see the same security guard from the museum, glaring his hauntingly familiar eyes at him damningly and seeming to relish at the intimidation he was sending to the old man. "Puma Loco. I've counted down the decades since you've done us wrong, now prepare to-"

"Listen punk!" Manny cut off the security guard before he can finish his threat. He didn't care about the trouble he was in right now, he wasn't going to let anybody insult his family. The boy planted his feet firmly on the ground, stood up straight and looked the jerk who talked down to his grandfather straight in the eyes. Frida already had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well, so she ran to take cover behind the most seemingly approachable of the two strangers. The woman sensed her distress and put a comforting and protective hand on her shoulder.

"Manny, no!" Grandpapi desperately pulled Manny away from the stranger's direction, but the teen wasn't having any of it. "I don't know who you are, but _nobody_ talks to my Grandpapi like that!" the boy ignored all of the shushes and warnings to stand down. He instead pointed a clawed finger at the man. "So you just shut up, respect the elders, and let us go home!"

The security guard stood completely unfazed throughout Manny's tirade and did not flinch once despite the claw being a mere inch away from his eye, and simply brushed off the teenager's with his unchanged body language, and chuckled amusingly. What happened next was a sight that Manny wouldn't dare forget. One minute the man before him was a middle-aged hunchback standing only a few inches taller than him, and the next he morphed into a much taller, slender, man-like tar creature who towered menacingly over the boy with his arms crossed and his furry white eyebrows crossing over his green eyes. He directed his red skull pupils onto Manny. "Well now you know ,boy. And I suggest you never cut me off again." Manny flinched when the man raised his black-gloved hand towards him and flicked the belt buckle into spinning with one of his spider-like fingers, transforming the superhero back to his regular persona. Poor Manny was frozen in fear, his face was drained of any color, his teeth chattered loudly, and his legs looked like they were about to give out any moment. As if the _thing_ didn't strike enough into him already, he had to utter a simple "boo!" and that sent the boy running, joining Frida in cowering behind the woman and hanging onto his friend for dear life.

The divine being ignored the child he may or may not have traumatized for life and diverted his attention back to the old man, carrying on with his threat as if that infernal pest hadn't butted in.

"I'll admit, we crossed paths sooner than I expected, but I can't say I'm complaining."

"I-I not dead yet!" Grandpapi boasted, but his body language was betraying all facades of bravado.

"I can arrange that." the god grinned maliciously, showing off his razor sharp teeth, and positioned his fingers to snap. Seeing what was about to happen, the woman gasped and quickly materialized from Manny and Frida's side, where in the next minute, she appeared to have popped up in front of the tar thing, taking a completely different form. She too transformed into a divine figure, a much prettier and more graceful one who donned a long, red dress that hugged her slim curves, and a giant hat of the same color from which her long, black hair flowed out. And Manny and Frida were able to make out faint, vibrant marks on her face, and the flames in her eyes from the anger she had to her partner.

"Xibalba!" the god jumped back in surprise of the goddess who popped up in front of him. "You know better than to take a life prematurely, especially when I'm around!" she punctuated her scold with a sharp poke to the man's chest.

"La Muerte, have you forgotten what he did?!" Xibalba argued.

"I remember very well what he did." La Muerte reminded her husband, with a tone of sorrow, anger, and betrayal. "But now is not the time for revenge. At least not around the little ones, look at them!" she gestured to Manny who was having a panic attack, not unlike the ones his mother was prone to, and Frida trying to coach him through his frenzied breathing. The goddess turned back to face her husband. "They don't even know why they're here, and the least you can do is not scare them further."

Xibalba held out his finger and opened his mouth to protest once more, but stopped when his wife gave him "the look". " _Si Muertita."_ he grumbled under his breath to not let the mortals hear his weakness.

Grandpapi was about to get down on his knees and thank the goddess for defending him, but his act of gratitude was short-lived when he saw her shooting him a death glare similar to that of her husband's and heard a growl rumbling in her throat. Seeing that she wasn't so willing to forgive and forget either, the super villain decided to just stay quiet for now.

While the adults were bickering, Frida was gradually making progress in calming Manny down. "Deep breaths dude, deep breaths." she constantly guided him. Once the tension died down, La Muerte turned back to the youngsters who were glaring at her big eyes and colorful facial patterns. She knelt down to their level as best as she could and flashed a small, but kind smile.

"So," the goddess spoke in a calm and maternal tone. "I take it that you two have some questions about our current circumstances."

"Duh!" Manny and Frida exclaimed. Before the goddess could say anything else, the two of them started overlapping each other with a series of their own questions. La Muerte was only able to make out a few of them. "Where are we? What are we doing here? Who the heck are you people? How do you have teleporting powers?"

La Muerte held up a finger to each of their lips to silence them. "Let's just take an easy, I promise I have the answers. But to start off with one of the crucial ones, we're in the land of the dead."

"Doi?" Manny looked to Frida, who was just in the same state of confusion.

 **Phew, that was a long one! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! There will be more to come soon, I promise!**


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